Nevermore, the Complete Series (50 page)

The trip from Denver to Willowshire was surprisingly quiet and quick; we were already halfway there before I even realized it. Salem and I sat in the back while the Banner brothers took the front seats. I took turns driving every now and then, but Mitchell was insistent on being behind the wheel the majority of the trip. We all had said our farewells to Mr. and Mrs. Williams prior to our departure and I felt miserable deserting them, despite knowing they had relatives to surround themselves with. I tried to focus on something other than the loss of one of my best friends, but this proved even more difficult than I thought. All I could picture in my head was her lying there in that coffin, and now she would be buried beneath the earth. I absent-mindedly gripped Salem’s hand tightly as I thought of this. He squeezed mine reassuringly and kissed me on the cheek.

My nostrils were filled with the fresh scent of blood racing through the veins of the two humans in the car, and I couldn’t deny the hunger. I wanted their blood to fill my mouth, course down my throat and fill me with its savory flavor. I shook my head in disgust at myself and stared pleadingly toward Salem.

“I need to get out of here,” I muttered desperately.

His eyebrows rose and he looked concerned. “Is something wrong?”

“We need to stop somewhere, anywhere…before I make a mistake.”

He grimaced and tapped Mitch on the shoulder. “Alex needs to make a quick stop at the next exit.”

“Is everything all right?”

“Yeah…” I said uncertainly.

“It’s something vampire-related, huh?” he asked and kept his eyes on the road the whole time.

“It’s kind of weird talking to you about it.” I laughed nervously.

I saw his shoulders shrug. “We already know about it now, so there’s nothing to keep from us.”

“This is sort of different.”

“Let me guess…you want to eat us?” he chuckled and glanced back at me, then gulped at the serious expression on my face. “Holy crap, Alex! I thought you said you guys just ate animals!”

“Calm down,” Salem said lightly. “We do feed on animal blood; Alex is simply having unusual cravings. We have not quite figured out the cause for it; however I can assure you that you are safe.”

Mitchell cautiously turned back to look at the road, his hands tightly gripped onto the steering wheel as he took us along the next exit. Jason didn’t seem affected by the thought that I was a blood-thirsty monster, but perhaps that was because of the hotel room incident, or his thoughts were someplace else completely...probably on Karen. I attempted to stop myself from inhaling so that the invigorating scent would not appeal to me as much and it seemed to help slightly.

I felt more relaxed after I practically leapt out of the car and inhaled a gulp of fresh air, clear of the suffocating scent of blood. We were surrounded by the typical trees of Colorado, which was still a pleasant sight to me after being away from home for a while. The desert landscape was something that could never appeal to me after being accustomed to such majestic nature. The Banner boys exited the car and wandered off to the restroom. For some reason I stayed put, standing beside Mitchell’s car and staring after my two friends.

“You won’t hurt them, Alex,” Salem said beside me. “You are strong enough to control it.”

I sighed and looked toward the ground. “Yeah, but what if I can’t? I couldn’t live with myself.”

“I know you, and I know that you are capable of controlling yourself. Your mind and heart are pure, and the vampire in you can never win against that. You would never hurt your friends.”

My eyes were now focused on him. “I hope you’re right.”

“I am,” he said with a smile.

“So, how exactly do you feed?” Mitch said and distracted me from Salem’s attention. “Is it like it is in the movies?”

“Pretty much,” I answered with a shrug.

“Could you…could you show me?” he asked anxiously.

“What?!” I shouted with alarm. “No! Are you crazy? You could get hurt!”

“I’ll be fine,” he disagreed. “Please, Alex? I won’t interfere…I’m just curious.”

I sighed in defeat and Salem gave me a worried glance. “You had better keep your distance, Mitch, or else I could end up hurting you...”

He laughed at my comment despite the seriousness of the situation. “I think I can defend myself.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Jason said warningly. “She’s stronger than she looks.”

“How do you know? Besides, I’ll be fine…Salem will be there if she goes crazy, right?”

“Of course, but I still do not think it is a wise idea,” Salem replied.

“I’m going, whether you like it or not,” Mitchell said firmly. “Lead the way, Alex.”

I begrudgingly led the younger of the Banner brothers away from the parking lot and toward the wooded area beyond. We walked down a short flight of old, loose stairs that led down into a ditch layered with gravel and a dense puddle of water. At the opposite side of the ditch was another set of stairs that led up to the flat land and into the copse. There were so many scents in the air but only one caught my attention – his scent. It was overwhelming. I scanned the area briefly as I waited on him to catch up to Salem and I, temporarily forgetting that he couldn’t travel at our pace.

The sky was darkening overhead and an array of stars burst into view against the black display, yet I could see everything just as clearly as if it were daylight. Mitchell, however, was stumbling around behind us as if he were blind. I stifled a laugh as I glanced back at him. Jason stayed behind in the vehicle, he didn’t say why.

“There is something ahead,” Salem said as he motioned with a finger to the trees before us.

“I don’t smell anything specific.”

He frowned.               “I believe you do, it simply isn’t the same as what I smell. Ignore that scent, Alex…I know you can.”

“I’m trying!” I said more harshly than I intended. “He just smells so…inviting...”

“You’re not talking about me, are you?” Mitchell said quietly as he approached us more closely.

“You’d be happier not knowing that answer.” I growled and stalked into the darkness. Our footsteps crunched noisily on fallen twigs that littered the ground, alerting any nearby animals that we were intruding. Mitchell’s were the loudest; Salem and I might as well have been levitating over the ground with how quiet our footfalls were.

“Walk stealthily, Mitchell,” Salem whispered.

“How am I supposed to do that?” he asked sarcastically, staring down at his feet. “There are twigs everywhere!”

“Step lightly,” I instructed and demonstrated for him. I stepped forward and lay my foot against one of the twigs, barely making a sound. “The gentler your foot falls, the quieter the impact will be. Just walk slowly and steadily so as to not scare anything away.”

Mitchell nodded slowly, following my demonstration and his steps became noticeably quieter. I heard the mellow babbling of a nearby brook and pondered the possibility of deer or elk drinking over there, but Salem had pointed in the other direction. I didn’t care what sort of animal was lurking beyond the trees; all that mattered right now was that I sated my thirst enough that I didn’t desire the blood of my two close friends.

Salem paused and held an arm out to alert us to stop. He carefully scanned the vicinity until something caught his attention – two black bears were foraging for food in the distance. Mitchell swallowed hard and stood stock-still as he examined the large carnivores. All I could think of when I saw the animals was Janet and how Mark had made up the story of her being mangled by a black bear at the zoo.

Salem and I would be fine, regardless how strong the creatures might be, and if we were unlucky enough to get hurt we would quickly heal. Mitch on the other hand was in mortal danger, but I would not let myself lose another friend – not today; not ever.

At last, the scent of Mitchell’s blood faded as I welcomed the smell of the bear’s. The two of them were unaware of us as they continued sniffing around at the dirt. Salem was the first to make a move, crouching down somewhat and preparing to pounce. He eyed me for a moment and I mimicked his movement.

“You’re going to get yourselves killed!” Mitchell said far too loudly and I straightened up as the bears turned in our direction. Before the creatures had a chance to spot us I embraced Mitch around the waist and hastily pulled him behind a nearby boulder, hiding us from their view. Salem followed and peeked over the top of the rock. We managed to go unnoticed.

“Keep your mouth shut,” I muttered. “We can handle this. Okay?”

Mitchell frowned apologetically and pretended to zip his mouth shut.

Salem and I slowly inched around the rock and spotted our targets once more. There was an unfamiliar scent in the air that reached my nose and I glanced around to see if I could find its source. I wasn’t the only one that caught onto it as I noticed Salem’s pale blue eyes darting around in search of it, too.

“What is that?” I whispered.

“It’s hard to say…I do not recognize it at all.”

“The road’s not far away, maybe it was something from a car or something?”

“Maybe,” he replied.

We edged closer to our prey and I felt an overwhelming desire to jump the nearest bear and dig my fangs into its warm inviting flesh, but something stopped me. Salem pushed me aside and stood firmly in front of me. At first I wasn’t sure what was going on and I stared at him with a bewildered expression until I spotted the cause.

I growled quietly as the bears scurried away and two men came walking out of the shadows, both of whom looked dangerous just from a mere glimpse. Both of the men were clad in black trench coats and thick, bulky boots. One of them was a hulking mass of muscles and as bald as could be with tribal tattoos wound around his scalp; his comrade was somewhat shorter with dark spiked hair and a menacing sneer across his lips.

“I thought we heard someone else out here,” the taller man said in what was a surprisingly pleasant and friendly tone. “Are you lost?”

“We are not lost,” Salem said as he eyed them suspiciously. “Are you?”

The man guffawed and shook his bald head. “’course not. We live around these parts. You’d be surprised by how many people get lost out here. And you sound like you sure don’t come from ‘round here with that voice.”

“I am very familiar with this state, regardless of my accent.”

“Well don’t you talk fancy,” the shorter man commented. “What were you doing out here so close to them bears anyway? Trying to get
yourselves killed?”

“We were merely observing the animals in their natural habitat,” Salem replied. “What about yourselves?”

“We heard some noises, thought we would check it out,” the taller one said. “This is Dennis, and my name’s Matt.”

I glanced around at the men from behind Salem. “I am Salem,” he replied and looked back at Mitch and me. “This is Alexis and Mitchell.”

“We don’t usually find groups out here,” Matt said, eying the three of us. “Usually just one person gets separated from the herd.”

“And I suppose you direct them back to the road?” I asked.

Matt grinned. “Nah way. What kind of rescuers would we be if we didn’t offer up a little more…hospitality…than that?”

“Yeah,” Dennis agreed with a sly grin. “We like to invite ‘em back home to…eat with us.”

I heard Mitchell gulp from behind me and knew immediately that something was off. I shut my eyes briefly to let the rest of my senses intake their surroundings. I smelled the familiar scent of chamomile coming off of Salem; I smelled diner food and blood wafting off of Mitchell…but these two new comers did not have a scent that I recognized – not even blood. I then listened to the sounds around us: I heard Mitchell breathing; I heard the sound of Mitch’s heart pounding rapidly, but nothing from the other two men. My eyes opened wide as I registered what we were facing.

“Salem, we need to get out of here,” I whispered fiercely – forgetting how easily the two men could hear me.

“Now, now, we don’t want to scare ya off,” Matt said with a false frown. “We just wanted to talk to ya, get to know ya.”

It became clear to me that they weren’t yet aware that we, too, were vampires.

“No really, we should be getting back...we’re already late as is.”

Dennis laughed and stepped nearer to us. “Aw now come on, is that any way to treat your saviors.”

“Do we really look that stupid to you? You could be some kind of murderers for all we know!” Mitchell yelled from behind us. “Besides, you don’t know who you’re dealing with! You’d best just let us go back if you know what’s good for you.”

Matt snorted. “I don’t think we have anything to fear from Mr. Fancy-Talk here and his little girlfriend.”

“For vampires,” I started and the two men stared at me with widening smirks, “you don’t seem to be very aware of your senses.”

“You underestimate us, girly,” Dennis snarled and his eyes shifted from brown to crimson in an instant. “The scent of that boy and the pounding of his heart
is pretty intense but I know what you two are. Otherwise he’d already be dead. Makes me wonder just what you two are doing out here with him though.”

Matt laughed beside him. “You think they were going to drink’em dry, Dennis? Nah, I think they are human-lovers. You know what? I bet they were after them bears!” He burst out into laughter.

“You know Matt, I think you’re right. Ah well, I’ve got some ideas for some animal feeders like these two…after we’re done fillin’ up on the boy anyway.”

I was about to question him when I heard something from behind us. Another man stepped out from the shadows, followed by a graceful woman with a blue pixie haircut. Salem kept his eyes focused on the two ahead of us while I rushed to pull Mitchell away from the oncoming couple and stuck him between us. Having him so close to me was dangerous, but not nearly as dangerous as having him exposed to any one of these four.

“Two vampires all buddied up with their food, imagine that,” the girl said in a light voice. “I’ll tell you what...just give him over to us and we’ll forget that you are pathetic wastes of space in this world and let you go. Better yet, why don’t you guys have a drink with us before you go?”

“Never,” I growled. “If you want him, come and get him.”

The man that accompanied the girl went wide-eyed then began laughing loudly. Ginger bangs fell across his ashen face and I could see his long fangs protruding from underneath his pink lips with each chuckle. “There are four of us and two of you, doll…I think you’d better just listen.”

Within seconds three of the four of them were around us, each of them focused solely on Mitchell as though Salem and I were non-existent. They were overcome with bloodlust, something that I was all too familiar with now, but unlike them I was able to prevent myself from hurting another person. Matt stood back, observing his partners and it came to my realization that he must be the ‘pack leader’. Dennis tackled Salem and pushed him away, giving the others a clear shot at Mitchell.

I avoided watching Salem and the other vampire, knowing that he would be fine and I had someone else to protect. The girl was out of sight and the ginger-haired man was on me within seconds. He shoved me hard into the nearest tree and I fought to see Mitchell. I could hear the panicked yelp escape his throat and it gave me the strength to force the vampire off of me. Salem had Dennis pinned down with a hand around his throat and the girl was now nowhere to be seen. For now I had little time to try to help Salem. Their real target was Mitch.

Matt had a clear advantage while Salem and I had been struggling with the other two. He had Mitch in his grasp, dragging him away from the scene by the collar of his shirt. I could hear the sound of the material ripping at the stitches as the vampire pulled him away with his inhuman strength. He was dumbfounded when he turned to find Mitchell’s shirt in his hand and the boy scrambling away. I fought the urge to laugh and swung the ginger-haired vampire into the tree behind me. They might be tough, but they certainly weren’t very bright, which was just what I liked when it came to fighting
vampires. Had they been as strong and wise as Raziel or Hannah, there would have been no chance against a group this size.

I felt the back of my shirt tear as the ebony wings burst through my skin. Long, razor-sharp talons emerged from my fingertips. With all the speed I possessed, I crashed into Matt as he grabbed Mitch up from the ground and bent over to bite him, ready to put an end to him and stop his escaping once and for all. The vampire screamed furiously as I knocked him over. I averted my attention from him momentarily to see Jason’s brother collide with the ground; a sudden gasp of air whistled through his lips and his eyes fell shut. My heart sank as I resisted the urge to rush to his side. I prayed he was okay.

“What is this?” Matt laughed as he looked me over and wiped a drop of blood from his mouth – which fortunately was his own and not Mitchell’s. “I think you’ve been eating animals too long, I think you’re turning into one!”

I smirked and shook my head. “Have you never heard of the Waldron’s before?”

“You gotta be fooling me. Vampires don’t hunt other vampires.” He laughed again, and I could hear the rest of his gang chuckling as well.

“Wrong,” I said and leapt onto his bulky body, sending him clambering to the ground a few feet away from where Mitch lay. He struggled to force me off, but despite my small size I was immoveable. His eyes widened and I couldn’t fight the grin that spread across my lips. It had been a long time since I had put an end to a vampire, and despite the situation I found some sort of immense satisfaction deep inside me.

I opened my mouth wide and released a shrill cry that caused Matt to throw his thick hands against his ears in attempt to block out the sound. The other vampires were no doubt affected by it as well – including Salem. But I couldn’t consider that right now. A talon slid across Matt’s cheek and a streak of blood trickled down the side of his face. “You’re lucky I don’t drink blood from humans,” I threatened. “Not that you are much of a human anymore anyways.”

The sound of his agonizing scream excited me as I dug my talons into his chest, through his dead heart and twisted them ruefully until his eyes fell –I relished in the fact that one less vampire existed in the world. I only hoped that no one heard him from beyond the woods. As I thought this, I climbed off of Matt’s body and stared into the distance. Another figure was approaching us.

Jason appeared from the darkness and his eyes were wide and terrified. I wanted to run to his side to comfort him but knew that my appearance was probably one of the most frightening sights around him. I then looked to Salem and found his assailant was dead on the ground and the other two vampires were nowhere to be seen. My next target was Mitch. I was afraid to lay eyes on him, fearful that I had lost another friend, but I was relieved to see him sitting up and rubbing his head. My feet remained in place as I ignored the urge to approach him – I would wait until my body returned to normal. Jason was at his brother’s side now anyway, checking his injuries.

“Is he all right?” Salem asked as he walked toward the Banner brothers.

“I’m okay,” Mitch said, coughing noisily. “Think they just knocked the air out of me is all.”

“Nothing is broken?” I asked and felt my body transforming back to normal.

“I don’t think so...” he said as he flexed his arms, fingers and moved his legs and feet. “A little sore but I’ve been worse.”

“Good,” I said with a sigh of relief. “Now do you see why I didn’t want you to come with us? It’s dangerous. Of course, I didn’t think there would be others out here but there is always that chance…there are far more vampires in the world that you realize.”

“Are you kidding me?” Mitchell laughed. “I got to see a fight between vampires! In real life! How many people get to say that?”

“Very few, considering most of them die in those situations,” Salem answered glumly. “You are very fortunate that Alexis possesses her raven abilities, or else you would be as dead as those two – we all would.”

Mitch gulped and then shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah, but we’re not.”

Jason helped his brother up from the ground and gave him a worried glance. “As soon as I heard you screaming…” he muttered and shook his head.

“I wouldn’t have let anything happen to him, Jason,” I said and put my arms around them.

“Sure…just like you were able to save Karen…” he replied in a very low voice.

I stepped back away from the Banner brothers, shocked and hurt. He blamed me for Karen? He should have known that I would give nearly anything to have been able to save her. I stared at my friends, stunned and unable to form words to reply to such an unthinkable claim.

“Come on, Mitch, let’s get you back home before anything else happens,” Jason said as he helped his brother up and slowly started walking back towards the car. Mitch gave me an apologetic look before turning and concentrating on the walk back as well.

“He did not mean it, Alex,” Salem said as he put a hand on my shoulder.